Brooder



y l938- K. w. DU BOIS 2 BROODER Filed Sept. 1'7, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Keg/yer 0801s, 1 NEEY Patented July 12, 1938 PUNITED STATES PATENT orrl nnoonnn.

Kenneth w. Du Bois, Plainvilie, 001111., assignor to The Trumbull Electric Manufacturing Company, llainvllle, Conn.

necticut a corporation of Con- Application September 17,1936, Serial rim 101,219 I I 6 Claims. (01. 119-33) air which flows downwardly over the backs of the chicks and also between them so as to warm the floor or ground andthe litter.

Another object is to provide a brooder in which the chicks will not be injured. 1

Another object is to'provide a strong, practical commercial type of structure which can be made and sold for a reasonable price.

Another object is to provide a structure which is economical to operate.

Another object is to provide a structure which can be readily inspected and regulated.

In carrying out my invention, I provide a hover which has an outer wall or casing and an inner wall which forms the ceiling of the brooding chamber. These walls are united around their peripheries and provided with passages so that air drawn in at the center of the top of the outer casing is forced into the outer edge of the inner wall and thence descends in the brooding chamber and is forced out through and beneath the curtain or skirt which depends from the outer edge of the casing.

An electric resistance heater is arranged around the edge of the ceiling so that the incoming air is heated as it enters the brooding chamber. The air is forced through the brooder in some.suitable manner. For convenience in installation and operation I prefer to use an electrically driven fan whichis supported at the top of the center of the casing.

The temperature is controlled or regulated by a thermostat located in the brooder chamber and the temperature may be read from a thermometer visible through a window in the ceiling. The thermostat may be adjusted by access through a door in the outer casing.

Details of other improvements will be understood from the accompanying drawings and the following description.

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view, partially diagrammatic, of a brooder involving one form of my invention with a fan for forcing air into the top and showing by the arrows the direction of air circulation the section being taken largely on the plane of the line l-| of Fig. 2.

Fig.2 is a view of a part of the brooder of Fig. ,1 looking upwardly. I

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view on a larger scale showing the support for the heater unit and guard.

Fig. 4 is avfragmentary sectional view on the same scale as Fig. 3 showing a corner of the brooder with arrows indicating the circulation of air the section being taken on the plane of the line 4-4 of Fig. 2. 1

Fig. 5 is a plan view of a fragment of one comer of the brooder.

Fig. 6 is a plan view on a small scale of a device used for connecting the four sides of the outer wall of the hover and supporting the fan and its motor. I

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view of the electrical circuits.

I The. outer casing is preferably pyramidal or conical and may have a number of inclined sec: tions ID (for instance, four as shown) .united by outer seams Ii. The corners are formed and protected by castings I2 which are mounted on angle iron legs I 3 to which the flanges I 4 of the sions 15 by means of which the height of the casing sections may also be secured. These legs are preferably provided with adjustable-extenbrooder may be varied. A'cloth skirt or curtain l6 depends from the flange of the casing.

The inner wall or ceiling 20 may be of any suitableform but is preferably also pyramidal or conical and made up of sections united by-joints or seams 2!. The peripheral flange 22 is interlocked with the flange H of the outer casing. Openings 23 are provided in the outer edge of the ceiling so that air' from the inside of the outer casingcan pass into the brooder chamber inside of the curtain I6.

The resistance wire 24 constitutes the heating means and is supported by porcelain or similar and preferably has a strap 34 secured to it by means of which the entire brooder may be lifted. It shouldbe understood, however, that broadly considered the invention is not limited to these details.

alsowith a small attraction-light 4| curved deflector members 3 sothat, the warm air will be turned downwardly toward. the center'of the casing. The continued inrush of fresh air ,forces the used airalong the floor and out from.

beneath the' edges of the curtain. This method of -'air circulation tends to eliminate any cold floor orground drafts which, would normally;

.-. tend to enter through the'clothskirt or-curtain }since the exhausted heated air is moving out beneath the skirt. This method 01' circulation also provides the chicks with the proper amount of ongen. carrying the heat from the edge 'of'the .brooder toward the center and'then} dow n on.

- the backs of the chicks." A large amount of this heated. air'passes between'the chicks'intothe litter onto the floor, thus .warming the litter.

c Itwill also be noted that when the inner ceiling is formed ofsheet metal, which is preferred, the

. as, warm air in the brooder chamber raises the temperature oi" the ceiling and thus serves to preheat the'air in the passage above the ceiling and beneath the .wall of the outer casing ill.

1 This -;construction greatly reduces thermal 80: losses and makes it unnecessary to employ insu--f latingmaterial to conserve the heat. It "should be understood, however, that the outer casing might be insulated 'if desired. "Although 'the pyramidal shape DI the ceiling and the deflector sslmembers issprei'erred it-should be understood that an ordinary fiat ceiling may beemployedin some cases.-

Preferably the brooder is provided with an in-'- dieator or-pilot light 40- on the outercasing and carried by the inner hover or ceiling:

"The' control switch I! may be of any suitable. typeactuated byan adiustable thermostatic de-' vice 48, carried by the ceiling ll. A thermometer .3, u is also'preferably-providedand adjustable to the. desired position beneath the ceiling' in-the-. brooder ehamberm A window in the ceiling is preferablyprovided sothat the thermometer may be read when the'dcor It in the outer casing is Opened- I Although the 'square type casing illustratedprovides a'maximum' sized brooder chamber for: a given floor space, it should-be understood that the invention is not limited to this shape. 1 The construction shown and described has been found to be an eflicient solution of the problemm involved-in electricalheating of brooders. Thel forced draft circulation of air-,as shown'and described, is effective-and healthy for the chicks. (m The rigid-mechanical construction insures long life to'the'apparatus. The mechanical and ele'ctrical arrangement insures a great eiilciency and asmall electric power-requirement.- v The inner and outer walls of pyramidal form united attheirw edges insure great strength for a given thickness of metal. The independently adjustable legs at the corners'permit-leveling the brooder on'anirregulan floor. The direction of circulation'of the air insures a uniform temperature within the brooder --chamber. As --the outside air isdrawn in atv the apex of the casing at the-maximum height above the ground, I avoid picking up dirt and dust from the ground and thus provide a substantial'fpurlty of air.

I claim: v

1. a brooder of at." outline having an outer-3 toward the center of the breeder, a heater wirelil; mounted at theedge of the ceiling inline with 1: 'said'channel and said openings, and almotor driven fan for forcing air circulation between thecasing and the ceiling and into the center of the brooder through said openings. .le 2. A brocder having an outer casing and an inner sheet metal ceiling for the brooder chamber,"

means for forcing air between the casing and ceiling and-into the chamber at its outer I toward the'center of the brboder, means for heat-J0;

ing the air as itlpasses into the'cliambdrrthef ceiling serving to preheatathe air between the' casing and the ceiling, and means vfor dedecting the warmedair toward the center of-the chamber and allowing theused air-to escape from beneathigq theouter edge' of the-chamber.

3. A brooder of square outline havinaan outer casing and an inner ceiling with-1' interlocking flanges and reinforcing corner pieou'hnd'havinm.

a return'channel-in the edge oil-the casings-thaw.

flange-of the ceiling having-sair.openings=learling to a space beneath the ceilingg-an electric heater" mounted'stthe edge or theceiling in line with said channel and said openings, and-.means for forcing aircirculation between thecasing and the?! ceiling and into the-center-of the brooder through said openings. i

A breeder having a ceiling with' a depending wall having openings, resistance-beak;

ingwiresextending around the inside of the cu- 4) ing adjacent the openings in the wall, and meansfor forcing air inwardlythroughrsaid'wpenings and past said heating wires toward-the center of the casing and deflecting the heated-air'doInwardly near the center of: the casing so that it finally-passes outwardly beneath the --incoming -A brooder havingmmouter casing member and an inner ceiling-memberspaced apart therefrom, means for securingthe outer edges 'of said membersitogethen'means for forcing-'air-intb the space between said members, said'innermember having a depending portion with openings through which air-passes from the s'pace' betweenthe members to-thespaeebeneath the inner 'ceii-s ing member, and electric'heating means arranged within"thebroader-"in with said openings, said ceiling member having an-inner surface for deflectingsthewarmed'air downwardly toward the center of the bro0der. n 6. 'A-brooder having an-outer ins -and an inner pyramidal sheet metal ceiling forthebrooder'chamber' with'arspace between the casing -and the"ceiling;-mea ns for forcing air, into the .center ofthe' casing and between the? casing and the ceiling and thence into the-outer" edge of the'chamber'and inwardly toward the center and means for heating the air as itpasses into the chamber, the-ceiling'rservingfto preheat theair'between the casing: andethe ceiling.

' KENNETH W: DU B018. 

